Abhilash Shetty (born 3 September) is an Indian filmmaker,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He made a remarkable directorial debut with the critically acclaimed Kannada film '' Koli Taal''. The film received widespread praise and was showcased at prestigious film festivals such as the

New York Indian Film Festival The New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in New York City, and screens films relating to India, the Indian Diaspora, and the work of Indian filmmakers. The festival began in November 2001 and was foun ...

and the

Mumbai Film Festival The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) is a public trust that organises the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in the city of Mumbai, India. Priyanka Chopra, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is the chairperson of the trust while Shivendra Singh Dungarpur serves ...

Early life

Shetty was born in

Shimoga Shimoga, officially Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, into a Kannada speaking Bunt family. He completed his schooling at

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) is a system of central schools for students predominantly from rural areas in India, targeting socially and economically backward students who lack access to accelerated learning due to financial, social and rura ...

, a prestigious boarding school. After earning his degree, he worked as a financial analyst for two years at

Capgemini Capgemini SE is a French Multinational corporation, multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and d ...

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Driven by his passion for filmmaking, he made the bold decision to leave his stable job and fully commit to his dreams of becoming a filmmaker.

Career

Shetty started his filmmaking career by making short films, including ''Crony'', ''Vinashi'', and ''2 Missed Calls''. He wrote, directed, and edited his debut feature film, '' Koli Taal'', in 2021. He directed his sophomore feature, '' Naale Rajaa Koli Majaa'', in 2024. The film garnered attention at various international film festivals before its theatrical release in India on May 9, 2025.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shetty, Abhilash Indian film directors Kannada actors People from Shimoga 1993 births Living people Film directors from Karnataka Kannada film directors